The Children’s Hospital of Iowa is the latest medical facility to join the “StarBright” network, enabling young patients to connect with other kids in their situation. StarBright World is a protected Internet service, enabling child patients to access games, medical information and each other.Donna Rasley is a Child Life Specialist at the Iowa City facility. She says the system lets an Iowa kid, hospitalized with some rare disease, find some other kid to talk to elsewhere who has the same problem. She says the “protected” part in the Internet service refers to the children being shielded from websites that only adults should view.StarBright makes its debut as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics celebrates “Children and Healthcare Week.” Today, the pediatric patients helped bake cookies to deliver to members of the nursing staff. Tomorrow, the children will take part in a role-reversal in the “Doctors R Us” clinic.Other events this week at the Iowa City hospital include dress-up photo sessions for the kid patients and a karaoke contest.
